Not only Octavia, but a selection of her traveling companions aboard The Argus shows hidden depths, uncertain agendas, and deep secrets. The author has a penchant for the “character who is more than they appear” and uses this throughout the novel to round out the cast. This is an early clue to the reader that Octavia is someone much more important than she herself thinks she is, and it’s a tension and a threat that winds through the novel and helps propel the plot. The author establishes Octavia’s preternatural ability and special connection to her Goddess early and does an excellent job in distinguishing her as someone and something special even among Medicians. A character who is reluctant to employ violence, and whose ethos is devoted to healing, makes for a protagonist that makes me sit up and take notice immediately for the contrast. Even scientists are more commonly found than a character with a profession such as Octavia’s. Magic wielders and rogues are bog-standard, too, for protagonists of this sort. The Clockwork Dagger is the debut novel from Beth Cato.Ĭlerics and healers are relatively uncommon protagonists for fantasy fiction, even for female protagonists. On that ship, Leander faces intrigue, adventure, romance and danger, the latter especially in the person of the eponymous agent of the Queen, The Clockwork Dagger. Octavia’s desire to use her talents, and an offer to help a village on the far end of the nation of Caskentia from her, leads her to board an airship for the long journey. A graduate of Miss Percival’s school for the training of Medicians, those who can not only use herbs and other remedies to heal the sick, but draw upon the power of the Lady to do wondrous feats of healing, even wounds and conditions that threaten the victim with death. Octavia Leander is a healer, and a talented and blessed one at that.
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